Maserati Racing

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Maserati
Maserati Racing
Maserati Racing
Racing
Production period: 1991-1992
Class : Sports car
Body versions : Coupe
Engines: Gasoline engine :
2.0 liters
283 hp (208 kW)
Length: 4174 mm
Width: 1714 mm
Height: 1300 mm
Wheelbase : 2514 mm
Empty weight : 1305 kg
successor Maserati Ghibli

The Maserati Racing is a street sports car from the car manufacturer Maserati , which was sold in Italy in 1991 and 1992 . The Racing, which is only offered as a coupé, was part of Maserati's Biturbo family . It differed from the other biturbo models in that it had revised drive and chassis technology. It is considered the link between the classic biturbo models of the 1980s and the Ghibli introduced in 1992 , which became the standard model of the 1990s.

History of origin

After the Argentine businessman Alejandro De Tomaso took over the then insolvent sports car manufacturer Maserati from Citroën in the summer of 1975 , he realigned the company. Instead of exclusive, high-priced sports cars that could only be sold in limited numbers, Maserati was to become a large-scale manufacturer. Associated with this was the development of a smaller, inexpensive model. This resulted in the Maserati Biturbo , a compact notchback coupé that was offered from 1981 and had dimensions similar to the BMW E30 . The standardized body was designed by Pierangelo Andreani . Structurally, it followed Giorgetto Giugiaro's concept vehicle Maserati Medici and therefore showed similarities to Maserati's luxury sedan Quattroporte . The biturbo was powered by a six-cylinder engine, the displacement of which was less than 2.0 liters in terms of Italian tax legislation. It was based on the naturally aspirated engine of the same size as the Merak mid-engined sports car , but had been heavily redesigned and equipped with two turbochargers . From 1982 the biturbo replaced all previous Maserati sports cars with the exception of the Quattroporte. At first he was very successful; In 1983, Maserati's sales increased tenfold compared to 1981. However, technical problems soon arose in the engine environment, which caused sales to decline steadily in the mid-1980s, most recently to 2,000 to 3,000 units a year.

Over the years, Maserati developed a broad-based model family from the biturbo, which included coupés with a regular body, convertibles and coupés with a shortened wheelbase, as well as coupés and sedans with an extended wheelbase. Above all, however, the company presented new engine variants almost every year, which differed in terms of displacement, mixture preparation and number of valves and achieved different performance levels. This also regularly resulted in new model names. It was a question of confusing or "desperate" attempts to keep customers interested in the Maserati brand and the model family through new models.

Racing presented at the end of 1990 was created in the late phase of this era. The Maserati 222 had been the company's standard model since 1988 . It had a 2.0 liter engine with 220 hp (162 kW). In the export version 222 E , the displacement was increased to 2.8 liters with almost the same engine output. At the same time, Maserati offered a particularly sporty version of the 2.0-liter model from 1988 to 1992, which was called 2.24 v . It had four valves per cylinder as well as modified turbochargers and developed 245 hp (180 kW). In 1990 Maserati developed the Racing from the 2.24v, the engine of which had another 40 hp more power. Racing was therefore derided in the press as the “high-performance version of the high-performance version”. Regardless of its name, racing was not originally intended for racing, but was street legal. Its drive technology became the basis for the Ghibli presented in 1992.

technology

engine

Maserati Racing engine compartment

As in all biturbo models, the racing engine block was made of cast aluminum . It was a V6 engine with a 90 degree bank angle. The displacement was 1996 cm³. As with the 2.24v, the engine had four overhead camshafts - two for each bank of cylinders - and four valves per cylinder. The engine output of the racing was 283 hp (208 kW), the liter output 141.5 hp. When it was launched, the Maserati Racing was the production car with the world's highest liter output. The increase in power was achieved through various changes in the engine design:

  • The Racing had redesigned pistons , which were no longer cast, but forged as before, and newly designed, lighter connecting rods ,
  • the combustion chambers had a newly designed shape,
  • the camshafts have been revised,
  • the valves were sodium cooled,
  • Maserati used newly developed turbochargers from IHI and
  • the electronic engine management has been revised.

The Maserati Racing was not equipped with an exhaust catalytic converter .

The power transmission was taken over by a manual five-speed gearbox from Getrag , which had been used for the first time on the 2.24v a year earlier. It replaced the previously used five-speed transmission from ZF , which did not harmonize with the engine.

landing gear

All Maserati Racing wheels were individually suspended . Forward came MacPherson struts with stabilizer and coil springs are used, rear trailing arm . The landing gear was controlled electronically. Together with Koni , Maserati developed a new "Electronic Active Wheel Suspension" for racing , through which each shock absorber could be individually adjusted. The disc brakes were larger than in the less motorized models. An anti-lock braking system was not offered.

body

The body of the Maserati Racing was created at the Innocenti body plant, which belongs to the De Tomaso group . The Racing was only offered as a two-door notchback coupé. Its structure largely corresponded to the other biturbo coupés. Stylistically, she took over the design details of the contemporary Maserati models. This included a rounded radiator grille and a headlight combination of round and square lights that had been introduced a year earlier in the eight-cylinder Shamal model. There was a wind deflector above the windshield wipers. At the back there was a large rear spoiler that went over the entire trunk lid. The taillights were darkened. Stylistically, the rear of the vehicle corresponded to that of the Maserati 2.24v.

Performance

The maximum speed was specified at the factory as 256 km / h. The Maserati Racing accelerated from 0 to 100 km / h in 5.9 seconds.

production

From 1990 to 1991 Maserati produced a total of 230 copies of the racing. Like all two-liter versions of the Biturbo, it was reserved for the Italian market. There it was offered for 75,285,000  lire . The sale lasted until 1992.

literature

  • Martin Buckley: Maserati. Italian luxury and flair . Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2012, ISBN 978-3-86852-633-2 .
  • Hans-Karl Lange: Maserati. The other Italian sports car. Zsolnay, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-552-05102-3 .
  • David Sparrow, Iain Ayre: Maserati Heritage . Osprey Classic Marques. Auckland 1995, ISBN 1-85532-441-5 .

Web links

Commons : Maserati Racing  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e model history of Maserati Racing on the website www.maserati-alfieri.co.uk (accessed on April 12, 2016).
  2. ^ Martin Buckley: Maserati. Italian luxury and flair . Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2012. ISBN 978-3-86852-633-2 , p. 136.
  3. ↑ a b Hans-Karl Lange: Maserati. The other Italian sports car. Zsolnay, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-552-05102-3 , p. 64.
  4. ^ Martin Buckley: Maserati. Italian luxury and flair . Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2012. ISBN 978-3-86852-633-2 , p. 143.
  5. ^ A b Martin Buckley: Maserati. Italian luxury and flair . Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2012. ISBN 978-3-86852-633-2 , p. 137.
  6. ↑ The four-door sedan equipped with the same engine was called Maserati 4.24 BC .
  7. ↑ Hans-Karl Lange: Maserati. The other Italian sports car. Zsolnay, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-552-05102-3 , p. 65.
  8. ↑ Wording in the sales prospectus: "Electronic Active Suspension".